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Judy Collins has thrilled audiences worldwide with her unique blend of interpretative folksongs and contemporary themes. Her impressive career has spanned more than 40 years. At 13, Judy Collins made her public debut performing Mozart's "Concerto for Two Pianos" but it was the music of such artists as Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger, as well as the traditional songs of the folk revival, that sparked Judy Collins' love of lyrics. She soon moved away from the classical piano and began her lifelong love with the guitar. In 1961, Judy Collins released her first album, A Maid of Constant Sorrow, at the age of 22 and began a thirty-five year association with Jac Holzman and Elektra Records.

Judy Collins is also noted for her rendition of Joni Mitchell's "Both Sides Now" on her classic 1967 album, Wildflowers. "Both Sides Now" has since been entered into the Grammy's Hall of Fame. Winning "Song of the Year" at the 1975 Grammy's Awards show was Judy's version of "Send in the Clowns," a ballad written by Stephen Sondheim for the Broadway musical "A Little Night Music."

One of the major interpretive singers of the 1960s, Judy Collins has recorded songs by such celebrated songwriters as Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, Randy Newman, Joan Baez, and Pete Seeger. Yet over the course of her illustrious 47-year career, she has recorded only one song — “In My Life” — by the most legendary songwriting team of them all: John Lennon and Paul McCartney.

'Judy Collins Sings Lennon & McCartney', her 44th album, was released in 2007 on her own label Wildflower Records. Sung in Collins’ pure, angelic soprano, the 12 tracks, all familiar classics from the Beatles’ colossal catalog, sound just as inspired today as they did 40 years ago. “I just chose what I like,” Collins says, “though we did limit the selections to Lennon and McCartney. These are their short, sweet, perfect songs.”

Hence, the listener is treated to “Blackbird” (“divine, haunting, and next to ‘In My Life,’ probably my favorite Beatles song,” Collins says); “Penny Lane” (“the images are so evocative”); “Norwegian Wood” (“it brings me right back to the ’60s and all the dreams we had”); “Good Day Sunshine” (“so lighthearted, we needed a lot of that in those days”); “Hey Jude” (“very uplifting to me”); “Yesterday” (“a gorgeous song that always reminds me of old lovers and friends”); “The Long and Winding Road” (“such a bitter sweetness about it”), and “We Can Work It Out,” which takes on new meaning in 2007 given the political climate in the world.

Listen to Judy at Myspace

Judy is a relentlessly creative spirit — a modern-day Renaissance woman who is also an accomplished painter, actor (she appeared in Bob Balaban’s theatrical production of The Exonerated in 2003), filmmaker (her documentary about her classical piano instructor, conductor Antonia Brico, received an Oscar nomination in 1974), record label head (founded in 1999, Wildflower Records releases not only Collins’ albums, but also those of half a dozen artists she has signed), and in-demand keynote speaker for mental health and suicide prevention organizations, a role she took on after her only son killed himself in 1992. Collins wrote about the healing process in 1998’s Singing Lessons and 2003’s Sanity & Grace, two of seven of her published books, which include novels, memoirs, and self-help guides.

Judy Collins website